North Penn Community Health Foundation Awards $70,000 to Study Needs of
Baby Boomers
The North Penn Community Health Foundation Board of Directors is pleased
to announce the award of a $70,000 grant to The PEAK Center in support of
a comprehensive, county-wide senor center study designed to articulate the
needs of baby boomers in the year 2015 and beyond.
Russell Johnson, Executive Director of the North Penn Community Health Foundation
noted, “The baby boomer generation’s needs and life orientation
differs substantially from earlier generations. Baby boomers have been characterized
as more individually focused. They are better educated, more affluent and
healthier than most of the present-day senior center consumers. Boomers seek
a variety of choices and are demanding of higher qualify programming, meaningful
activity including volunteerism, and are more short-term focused in making
commitments.”
The study is designed to provide information to community leaders, businesses
and boards of directors who oversee existing non-profit agencies serving the
needs of older adults. Regionally specific sets of data and recommendations
will be disseminated to assist businesses, boards of non-profit organizations,
community planners and others to craft strategic plans designed to secure
the future of baby boomers and address their needs in meaningful ways.
The study is being conducted by two researchers selected from a national
search of consultants with experience in the aging industry. Dr. John Migliaccio,
President/CEO of Maturity Mark Services is the lead consultant. Maturity Mark
Services Company completed one of the nation’s most comprehensive research
projects on baby boomers. This project involved research, focus groups, telephone
surveys on major healthcare, financial security, and quality of life issues
facing baby boomers resulting in the first U.S. Administration on Aging (AoA)
sponsored National Conference and ongoing initiative on redefining retirement.
Maturity Mark Services has provided assistance to other nationally recognized
organizations including IBM Corporation, The Hartford Insurance Company, Smith
Barney, and American Express Company. He is joined by Michael Marcus, Principal
of Consultant for Community Resources. Mr. Marcus has spent his career working
with non-profit organizations working for organizations such as the Chicago
Community Trust and Families USA Foundation of Boston (now known as Community
Catalyst). His recent projects include a 50 agency collaborative seeking to
offer older adults, and baby boomers, a life planning program known as “Mapping
Our Future Our Way”. Mr. Marcus serves on the board of the American
Society on Aging, Generations United, the Federation of Families for Children’s
Mental Health, and the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs. He is a member of
the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Seniors Program.
The community will be asked to participate in this study at several points
over the next year. Regional groups of advisors will be formed to work with
the consultants in developing locally relevant questionnaires and in designing
the content of focus groups. These advisors will also assist with an asset
mapping activity designed to identify the present-day resources in the community
and to define potential for contributing to community change. A County-wide
visioning session, to be held next spring, will bring together a much larger
group of baby boomers and senior citizens, businesses, faith groups, service
clubs, non-profit and community leaders, elected officials and representatives
from numerous philanthropic organizations to develop a shared vision for meeting
the needs of older adults.
Funding for this study was provided by the North Penn Community Health Foundation,
the Montgomery County Office of Aging and Adult Services, and the Montgomery
Foundation. Additional support has been requested from the Claneil Foundation
and the Phoenixville Community Health Foundation.
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